Young refugees who arrive in the UK alone face trauma, isolation and mental health problems that can persist for years after resettlement, a new study shows.
The study, published on Thursday and carried out by Dr Rebecca Lane, a trainee clinical psychologist at University of East Anglia’s (UEA’s) Norwich Medical School, is based on interviews with 12 Afghan men living in England.
Dr Lane said: ‘We wanted to better understand, in their own words, their resilience and coping strategies, and how these strategies changed over time.
‘Their difficulties often overlapped or built on one another. In many cases, one challenge got in the way of coping with another, which made it harder for people to find strategies that really helped. This tended to create difficult cycles that were hard to break.’
She added: ‘Physical pain would stop people leaving the house, exercising or spending time with friends – which then made their mental health and feelings of isolation worse.’
Participants – former unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs), which are children who arrive in the UK without parents or guardians – reported symptoms including anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, intrusive memories, loneliness and chronic physical pain after arriving in Britain.
One participant, referred to as Zahir (not his real name), said: ‘I have stress, like I have anxiety, PTSD as well. When I’m alone, I just keep thinking about my family.’
Another, Asadullah (not his real name), claimed he coped by keeping himself busy. He said: ‘If I keep myself busy, then I don’t care as much about this loneliness. But if I don’t have a lot to do, then these thoughts will keep coming at me.’
Exercise, sport and social activity were commonly described as coping mechanisms, with cricket in particular seen as a link to home and childhood in Afghanistan.
However, researchers found coping strategies were often fragile. Some participants reported alcohol use, emotional suppression or self-harm, while others avoided speaking with their loved ones because it increased feelings of helplessness and guilt.
Asadullah said: ‘One of the reasons sometimes I suppress my emotions is because from a young age…crying makes you weak.’
Researchers said many participants grew up in environments marked by fear and emotional silence, where boys were discouraged from expressing vulnerability. As a result, therapy and support services were unfamiliar concepts for many after arriving in the UK.
Several participants described support workers and caseworkers as key figures in their lives, with some comparing them to family members.
‘He has cared for me more than my parents,’ one participant said of his caseworker.
Dr Kenny Chiu, clinical lecturer from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: ‘Unaccompanied child refugees have lost family, safety and a sense of home, and many have been exposed to traumatic events on their journey.
‘Compared to children who arrive with relatives, these young people tend to have gone through more trauma and are more likely to struggle with things like PTSD or depression.
‘Until now, there has been very little research on how former unaccompanied child refugees from the same cultural background cope with a new life in the UK.
The study concludes that support services should focus not only on trauma treatment, but also on helping young refugees build relationships, social confidence and a sense of belonging.
Asadullah sums it up: ‘Isolation will drive us to insanity. We are social beings and we need to talk to each other.’
Photo: Michael Weibel/UnSplash
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